Coffin Nail #647

Williamsburg has been over so long it doesn't even matter, but the Gap putting out a pair of jeans in a "Williamsburg" cut is something that that horrible term 'jumping the shark' was coined for. I wonder what the Greenpoint will look like: covered in fake carpenter dust, acid-washed and smelling like Zywiec?

For Jen!

...because I told her I'd take pictures after I called her on my super shopping high. And, well, for me to brag about some fabulous new shoes! I scored today at the Sigerson Morrison warehouse sale, scooting out of there after waiting an hour in line with 4 pairs of shoes only costing me $280 when they normally would have gone for about $1500. We all know I am not a shopper by nature, but boy, do I love a deal AND a designer that makes cute shoes for girls with ginormous feet!

Photos below. Note Baxter's help.

Auf Weidersein, Project Runway.

Chloe! C'Mon. How can a woman whose dresses all look like prom dresses without backs be American's next top fashion designer?? Amazing seams, sure, but the next big designer needs to make more than satiny-looking dresses without backs! While I wasn't that sold on Daniel V's, or Santino's collections either, I HATED boring old midget Chloe's stuff. Santino, for all his irritating traits, surprisingly had the best final collection, even with him toning his crazy styles down far too much for the finale. Bring back some of those crazy couture ruffles. But I'm not the expert. Heidi Klum, plus her two co-bitches in judging, Michael Kors and Elle-fashion-director- Nina-Garcia (whose name is always said in that long phrase, with Ms. Klum really putting on the Spanish accent), BLEW IT. Even if the job is with Banana Republic.

Ah well. The new season of America's Next Top Model has begun. I'm only an hour into the two hour premiere, and already six girls have cried on the first episode. Tyra has annoying hugged and comforted three, while getting "black" with two. Words do not describe how self-congratulatory and lame she is. Or how lame I am for watching the fifth season in a row.

V-Best

Here's an absolutely fantastic write-up of the place I work from The Sunday Times in London. V Magazine is truly like nothing else, and it also managed to ruin my life for the past 5 days by proving to be nearly impossible to print in Montreal.....




Fantasy & freedom
Following its own idiosyncratic creative path, V magazine goes where other fashion glossies fear to tread, says Colin McDowell

What magazine is twice as tall and wide as all the others, uses the photographers Mario Testino, Nick Knight, Nan Goldin, David Sims, Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, once featured Kate Moss on its cover wearing a beard, and describes itself as “unisex, but swinging both ways”?

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The answer is V, a publication that makes other high-fashion glossies look about as exciting as a WI newsletter, and whose first five years are chronicled in a new book. For anyone interested in fashion, graphic design and the coolest of international lifestyles, V has consistently broken new ground, making each issue an instant collector’s item. Not since Andy Warhol’s Interview in the 1970s has there been anything as visually stimulating and shocking — or anything that has celebrated its creative freedom quite so playfully.

Published from chaotic offices in New York, the magazine is the brainchild of Stephen Gan, a Filipino with Chinese roots who moved to New York when he was 18. Gan is a visionary in the same spirit as the great Alexey Brodovitch, the creative director of Harper’s Bazaar in the 1930s (a role now held by Gan), who trained photographers such as Richard Avedon and Irving Penn.

Whereas most magazines today are launched principally to generate advertising revenue, and every new arrival apes and devalues those currently on the newsstands, Gan cheerfully and courageously does his own thing. V’s trademarks — apart from its size — are its bold layouts, typography and fashion photography. The visual power is apparent from its covers. Strong and challenging, they feature iconic faces such as Iman, Linda Evangelista and Kate Moss (one of Gan’s favourites), Missy Elliott, Alex Kapranos and Gwen Stefani. Nobody ever refuses the V cover. The contributors, too, are drawn from the creative A list, and include Salman Rushdie, Karl Lagerfeld, Miuccia Prada and Bruce Weber.

So, what of its fashion? Well, V likes a bit of bling, is in love with the LA music scene and gets excited over boybands and young male designers such as Raf Simons and Hedi Slimane. It also has its big-name favourites, including Dior, Chanel and Gucci, whose advertising pays the bills.

Yet its remit is wider than who is currently putting what on the world’s runways, or who is having a red-carpet moment. A feature dedicated to heroes spotlights people who have had a long-lasting impact on the creative world, including artists such as Victor Vasarely, film directors such as Michael Powell, who made the 1940s classics Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes, couturiers Yves Saint Laurent and Charles James, and luminaries of the design world such as Ettore Sottsass and Philippe Starck.

V has had the courage to put Trent Ford in an evening dress, create portraits of designers from hundreds of tiny runway shots of their shows, and give the Venice Biennale several pages long before Frieze and Art Basel became part of the fashion world. Its first cover was a Testino shot of Jude Law, who had made himself up as a bizarre-looking native. V has continued the boldness ever since.

Thirty years ago, fashion magazines were still exciting, original and different from each other because each one was a reflection of the personality and interests of its editor and art editor. Since then, the need to outsell rivals has robbed the fashion magazines of all their character. If you don’t believe me, collect a few of them, hide their titles, then see if you can tell any difference in the covers.

V is uniquely different. It is the idiosyncratic child of a passionate editorial team working with an editor who has incredibly sensitive antennae for the significance of the moment. The result is a cultural primer of art, music, film and fashion that amazes with every page of every issue. What other fashion magazine can you say that about?

V-Best: Best of V Magazine is published by Steidl (£80). Available from The Photographer’s Gallery; 020 7831 1772

I Hate Perfume

For my birthday this year, Anne gave me one of the neatest gifts I have ever received. Christopher Brosius, who originally developed scents for Kiehl's and Demeter, now has a shop/gallery in Williamsburg on Wythe Street. For a secret birthday gift fee (maybe $75?), you can go in and get a session with Christopher himself, who will help you select scents based on your descriptions of what you liked in the past, what your favorite smells are and simply by sitting down for an hour and whiffing loads of his 200+ unusual scents. You can pick one or two you like, or with additional visits (definitely on my agenda), he will work to develop a scent especially for you by blending 4 or 5 accords together.

He's been written up in tons of fashion mags as a "perfumer to the stars", and recently developed a scent with Alan Cummings that includes notes of scotch, heather and pine. Chris' scents include everything from Cut Grass to Amaryllis to Mediterranean Sea to Doll Head to Roast Beef. An interesting and a passionate guy about the art of perfuming, Christopher told me he often makes a scent just to see if he can, even if people wouldn't wear it alone. He gets continual requests for Wet Dog and Puppy, but hasn't mastered these quite yet.

Now will you forgive me for walking around smelling like Black Tea and Salad Greens?